Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced Wednesday that it has secured another huge deal with the Indian navy, this one worth $777 million.

The agreement is the third that the world’s biggest democracy has signed with Israel’s state-owned company for missile defense systems since last June, totaling over $3 billion in sales.

The Barak-8 Surface to Air missile (SAM) system will be installed on seven Indian Navy vessels at a cost of $111 million each. The package, which includes command and control technology as well as the missiles and launchers, is a maritime version of the land-based system that India began incorporating into its forces in 2016.

Israel uses the Barak-8 on its own vessels; it is capable of intercepting aerial threats such as missiles and jets from hundreds of kilometers away, including the kinds of anti-ship missiles that Hezbollah has in Lebanon.

The Barak-8 was developed in a joint effort with other Israeli companies such as Rafael, but also with India’s Defense Research and Development Organization, its navy and other local companies. This cooperation is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s long-term plan to become more self-reliant in defense, reduce defense costs and provide thousands of jobs for his countrymen.

Modi’s policy was noted by IAI Chief Executive Officer Nimrod Shefer when talking to Reuters about the latest deal.

“IAI’s partnership with India dates many years back and has culminated in joint system development and production,” he said. “India is a major market for IAI and we plan to… reinforce our positioning in India, also in view of increasing competition.”

The first contract, signed a mere four weeks earlier, was to supply the army version to India, with an additional system to the navy to be installed on the first aircraft carrier ever built by Mumbai once completed. Valued at nearly $2 billion, IAI described it at the time as Israel’s largest-ever defense deal.

India has gone on quite a spending spree in defense over the past several years, with Israel being one of its major suppliers along with Russia and the United States.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, commenting on the latest deal, tweeted that it was ““proof that security is investment, and not expenditure.”

“The IAI is a national asset that must be maintained and strengthened,” he stated.

4. 

10-25-18

Senior officer denies claims IDF not ready for war

INN – A high-ranking IDF officer serving in the Ground Forces pushed back at claims that the military is unable to fight a full-fledged war with Israel’s enemies.

Over the previous few months, IDF Ombudsman Gen. (res.) Yitzhak Brik has been releasing increasingly dire warnings about what he says is the military’s depleted state. Brik, who will soon resign after 10 years in office, has called on cabinet ministers, the subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the IDF leadership to appoint a committee to investigate the readiness of the ground forces for war.

In his most recent report, Brick says that the army’s streamlining and efficiency restructuring have devastated the ground forces, detailing the lack of manpower and ammunition rife among the standing military.

The charges were refuted by the officer, who told Arutz Sheva that stepped-up training and increased budget for both the standing army and the reserves renders the IDF more ready for conflict that it has been in years.

“I see the momentum in training and on land, and there is no parallel in this scale compared to other countries and compared to the reality that existed here until a few years ago,” says the officer, who is well-versed in the IDF’s training schedule.

The officer added that he cannot understand how Brick reached his conclusions. “The soldiers, who are training for seventeen months and are then in seventeen months of operational employment, are as prepared as can possibly be,” he said.

“Until recently, training exercises comprised only a third of a conscript’s [three years] IDF service. Today, when the duration of the training period makes up half of the military service, we bring soldiers to qualitative results in the reserves. “

While the officer acknowledged that “there is no readiness of 100 percent,” he said that “the readiness of the ground forces is 80 percent, and that is definitely what is required. There will always be exceptions, there will always be those who are not satisfied, but to say that the army is not ready for war does not match reality.”

Upon being asked what has changed in IDF to improve its readiness for war, the officer said that a NIS 1 billion that was added to the Ground Forces’ budget allows the army to invest more in training reservists.

“Today when a reservist arrives for a five-day training, he participates in a shoulder-to-shoulder exercise with the units parallel to him and those who will be with him during combat such as engineering, artillery, armor and more.”

“This is definitely a revolution in the army, and I can clearly state that the level of training and their quality are at the best level,” the officer said. “Go down to the training facilities and see how wrong you are.”

By World Israel News Staff

“The sustained growth of both our countries and both our economies requires two things … It requires innovation and it requires scale,” said Prime Minister Benjamin, stressing each country’s strengths during an official visit by Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, Wednesday.

“It’s the combination of the two that gives you the greatest effect and the greatest effectiveness. The combination of Israeli technology and innovation with Chinese industry, expertise, innovation and markets is very powerful,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu expressed his eagerness for a free trade agreement with China, an idea he first broached in 2013. Talks are ongoing.

“China is Israel’s second largest trade partner reaching $10 billion in 2017 and it is already up 30% in 2018,” the prime minister said. “I know for China this isn’t the biggest trading partner. But for us it is very important.”

Members of 13 Chinese ministries took part in the meeting. Eight joint agreements were signed in the fields of science and technology, the life sciences, innovation, digital health and agriculture.

“There is a natural partnership between us. We want to expand it for the benefit of both our peoples. We want to expand it for the benefit of all of humanity and I think the opportunities are vast,” Netanyahu said.

6.

The Enigmatos team. (photo credit: ENIGMATOS)

Your family vehicle is increasingly becoming a complex computer network on wheels.

Beyond the familiar car infotainment system and visible on-board diagnostics can lie a complex structure of more than 100 million lines of computer code, dozens of engine control units, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication and more.

While everyone is acutely aware of the risk of computer hacking, it is now necessary to consider the possibility that your car, that complex computer network on the move, will suddenly be hacked while traveling at 100 kilometers per hour on a highway.

With fully autonomous cars and increasingly connected vehicles poised to enter the market, the risk of cyber attacks on vehicles is a growing and real threat.

Enigmatos, a Yavneh-based start-up with a highly-experienced team of automotive, cyber and machine-learning experts, is on the front line of defending the 1.2 billion existing vehicles, as well as future vehicles, from malicious cyberattacks.

The president of the company, Ami Shafran, served as the head of the IDF’s C4I corps, responsible for the entire information and communication technology, electronic warfare and cyberdefense of the military.

The concept of cyberattacks on vehicles is far from hypothetical. Recent attacks carried out by researchers have found vulnerabilities and have even seized control of vehicles in cars of leading brands including Chrysler, Tesla and BMW. If the mobility revolution of autonomous and connected vehicles is to prove successful, cyber security will be key to the process.

“Fortunately, all the hacks in recent years have been by researchers,” VP of Business Development at Enigmatos Orit Fredkof told The Jerusalem Post.

“That proves to us that today’s vehicles are already susceptible to hacking – and as we add connectivity and additional autonomy levels to the vehicle, we add more entry points for hackers. So the threat is definitely there, and hackers will definitely make use of it.”

At this month’s prestigious Paris Motor Show, Enigmatos showcased live-streaming of its ability to hack into vehicles located at its Israeli research lab from the comfort of France’s largest exhibition park.

“We believe that cybersecurity is the cornerstone for all future mobility. If the masses will not trust the vehicle, the revolution will not happen. Mass adoption of cyber security is necessary for mass adoption of all innovation,” Fredkof said.

Enigmatos’ software-based solution is based on its unique Deep Car Identity Profiling technology, or the extraction of the vehicle’s unique digital DNA, which enables it to detect and prevent any malicious activity on the vehicle’s network.

The patent-pending platform can detect any malicious hardware attached to a vehicle, such as a “sniffer,” and intercept any messages on the vehicle’s communication data that do not originate from a legal source.

Should a hacker take control of an engine control unit, the system’s anomaly mechanism can identify messages that lack the exact vehicle signature of message context.

“Our aim is to reside in the network – to detect, report and prevent in real-time all malicious activity in the vehicle,” Fredkof said.

Major players in the global car market as well as legislators are now waking up to the potential threats posed by vehicle hacking. Currently valued at $55 million, the automotive cybersecurity market size is estimated to be worth $4.9 billion by 2024.

“If five years ago you couldn’t even talk to the security guard at the entrance of a major car maker’s office, today they’re knocking on our door,” Fredkof said. Last week, the team was invited by major automotive manufacturers to present its platform at the prestigious SMMT Future Mobility Challenge conference in London.

Two proposed pieces of legislation regarding the safety of highly automated vehicles and cybersecurity, the Self Drive Act and the Spy Car Act, are currently under consideration by the US Congress.

“Within the next two years, there will be a commercially-deployed solution,” Fredkof said.

“We always say that the hacker has the advantage of the element of surprise. Our aim is to be one step ahead, and not give him the entire advantage.”

6.

KREMLIN ACCUSES U.S. OF DRONE ATTACK ON RUSSIAN AIR BASE IN SYRIA

Drone employment threatens to upset delicate cease-fire agreement in nearby Idlib

BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN

 

OCTOBER 25, 2018

A U.S. Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. (photo credit: DARRIN ZAMMIT LUPI/REUTERS)

Russia’s deputy defense minister Aleksandr Fomin accused a US airplane of manually controlling 13 drones that attempted to attack Russia’s Khmeimim air base in Syria. The surprising allegations were made at a plenary session of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Thursday. A Russian diplomatic source elaborated on the comments, alleging that some Syrian militants in Idlib are being used by the US to create instability in northern Syria.

According to a report at TASS, Russia’s news agency, the official said that thirteen drones have “moved according to common combat battle deployment, operated by a single crew.” He linked their movements to the presence of an American Poseidon-8 reconnaissance plane patrolling in the Mediterranean Sea. He alleged that as the drones approached the sensitive Russian air base, the Russians used electronic countermeasures against them. The drones then began to use “manual guidance,” which he said could not have been done by local Syrian “villagers,” but was in fact done by the Poseidon-8 “which has modern equipment.” The drones were destroyed, according to Fomin.

“This should be stopped as well, in order to avoid fighting with the high-technology weapons of terrorists and highly-equipped terrorists it is necessary to stop supplying them with equipment,” Fomin said. He went on to note that in January, Syrian rebel groups had first used a large number of drones “in the attack on the Russian Khmeimim air base and the Russian naval base in Tartus.”

He said the latest attack was thwarted as Russia downed seven drones and “took control” over six others. Moscow’s evidence is based on the view that the technology necessary to coordinate the drones came from a “technologically advanced country.” Russia warned against a repeat of the incident.

The report comes on the heels of new satellite images from ImageSat International, which showed the presence of the S-300 systems Russia supplied Syria in the wake of downing of the Russian IL-20 in September during an Israeli air strike on Syria. Russia blamed Israel for creating the events that led to the downing, even though Syrian air defense shot the Russian plane down.

The recent news of the drones is one of many allegations in Russian media over the years that has sought to link the US to extremist groups. For instance in March, April and June, Sputnik news, which is close to the Kremlin, claimed the US had evacuated Islamic State fighters and commanders in Syria using helicopters.

This is a way to spread rumors in the region that the US is working with ISIS, even as the US leads a 70-nation coalition against ISIS. Russian sources have previously accused the US of working with the Nusra front, or al-Qaeda in Syria. Alleging that the US was supplying technology to Syrian rebels of extremist groups in Idlib would be in line with the previous accusations.

According to RT television network, which is also affiliated with Moscow, the Kremlin is now concerned by the report from its own deputy defense minister.

“This is undoubtedly a very alarming report,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, was quoted as saying.

Russia has documented more than 50 attempts to launch drones from Idlib at the Khmeimim air base since August, according to a Russian diplomatic source. This comes amid the Idlib agreement signed in mid-September between Russia and Turkey that halted a planned Syrian-regime offensive to retake Idlib province from the rebels and extremists. Instead heavy weapons are being withdrawn from part of the rebel enclave and the extremist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is supposed to be removed from a demilitarized zone.

Idlib Province is near the Khmeimim air base and the drone attacks have come from there over the last months. That the rebels have used drones is not disputed, but Moscow’s allegations that the US is behind these attacks is a new claim.

“These groups are used by the US so that the situation in Idlib remains unsettled,” the diplomatic source said. “Drones are launched by militants from several groups which do not adhere to truce terms.”

The allegation at the forum in China therefore is a way to warn the US about any provocations in Syria, either from the sea or Idlib and also could be used as a pretext if Moscow responds. The deputy minister’s comments were made in such a way as to allude to US directly coordinating the drone attacks, as opposed to presenting clear evidence of the coordination, such as showcasing the drones themselves and where they originated, or documented radio communications. This allows Moscow some climb-down and allows Washington time to respond. It may also be a way to pressure Turkey to crack down on any new drone attacks from Idlib.

An inquiry to the US Coalition and Centcom regarding these allegations went unanswered as of press time.

7.

8. Τί κρίμα Επίσκοπε Χάνα!.. Άραγε τόσο πολύ φοβάσαι;

‘Enemies of Christianity’: Palestinian archbishop blasts pro-Israel evangelicals

Palestinian Archbishop Hanna (C) protesting a Muhammad cartoon published by Charlie Hebdo. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

By World Israel News Staff

Palestinian Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Head of the Sebastia Diocese of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, recently slammed evangelical Christians, commenting that they “do not belong to Christianity at all.”

“They are closer to Judaism and Zionism,” claimed Hanna.

Hanna’s comments were published last month in the official daily of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, and included the claim that evangelical Christians “have no connection to the values of Christianity,” according to translations furnished by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

Support for the State of Israel remains a central value for a large swath of evangelicals throughout the world, many of whom visit Israel and support political candidates that reflect their position. According to Professor Elizabeth Oldmixon of the University of North Texas around one third of the American evangelical population (about 15 million people) are ardent supporters of Israel, Voxreported.

Speaking to Vox during the week in which the US moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem at the behest of President Donald Trump, Oldmixon described the “gathering of all the Jews in exile to the Holy Land” in the modern Jewish state as “electrifying for [evangelicals],” noting that “support for Israel became a really, really important political position” for this population.

Hanna expressed a far dimmer view of evangelicals to Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, claiming, “The Christian evangelists are tantamount to pulpits in the service of the Zionist enterprise. They are enemies of Christian values, and when they come to Palestine they do not visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity, but rather [Jewish communities] located on the stolen lands of our people as a sign of solidarity with [Israel].”

9.

Mattis to Send 800 Troops to Southern Border

(AFFP/Getty Images)

Thursday, 25 October 2018 

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to sign an order as early as Thursday sending 800 or more troops to the southern border to support the Border Patrol, a U.S. official said.

Mattis is responding to a request from President Donald Trump, who says he’s “bringing out the military” to address what he’s calling a national emergency at the border.

The U.S. official was not authorized to speak publicly because not all details of the military arrangement had been worked out, and so spoke on condition of anonymity.

The additional troops are to provide what one official described as logistical support to the Border Patrol. This would include a variety of things such as vehicles, tents and equipment, and perhaps medical support. It was not immediately clear how many, if any, of the extra troops would be armed. Because they would not be performing law enforcement duties they would not be in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the federal government from using the armed forces in a domestic police role.

There already are about 2,000 National Guard troops assisting at the border under a previous Pentagon arrangement.

© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

10.

Trump Tells WH Press: Proud to Be ‘Nationalist’

By Cathy Burke    |   Tuesday, 23 October 2018 

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is “proud” to be a nationalist, asserting the provocative word should be used more often — and denying it carries any racial undertones.

During a briefing with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was grilled about calling himself a nationalist at a Houston, Texas, rally Monday— with one journalist asking if the president was “sending coded language or a dog whistle to some American out there that what you really mean is that you are a white nationalist.”

“I’ve never even heard that,” Trump shot back. “I cannot imagine that. I’m a nationalist. No, I never heard that theory about being a nationalist. I have heard them all. I’m somebody that loves our country.”

In his explanation of the term, Trump framed the meaning in the context of international trade, complaining “immensely wealthy” countries, such as Saudi Arabia, do not reimburse the United States for military protection, that other nations do not adequately contribute to global alliances like NATO, and that certain countries have put up unfair trade barriers that harm the U.S.

“All I want for our country is to be treated well, to be treated with respect,” Trump told reporters. “For many years, other countries that are allies of ours, so-called allies, they have not treated our country fairly, so in that sense I am absolutely a nationalist, and I’m proud of it.”

In his Monday rally remarks, Trump took a shot at globalists, asserting, “You know what I am? I’m a nationalist.”

The crowd broke into a chant of “USA” in response, The Hill reported.

“It’s a word that hasn’t been used too much,” he told reporters Tuesday. “People use it. But I’m very proud. I think it should be brought back. I’m somebody who wants to help other countries of the world. But I also have to take care of our country. We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be duped on military and also duped on trade. . . . So, in that sense I’m absolutely a nationalist. And I’m proud of it. Yes.”

The term has been associated with far-right fringe groups like the white nationalists who helped organize protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. While the demonstrations were aimed against the removal of Confederate statues, those attending included neo-Nazis and other racist groups, some of whom yelled anti-Semitic and racist statements.

The protests eventually became violent, and a young woman was killed when a man drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. Trump defended some of the Charlottesville protesters as “very fine people” at the time.

11.

Pakistani prime minister vows to hold peace talks with India

Iran Press TV

Tue Oct 23, 2018

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to hold peace talks with arch-rival India following next year’s nationwide elections in the neighboring country.

Khan made the announcement during a speech at a Saudi investment conference in the capital Riyadh on Tuesday.

“When I won the elections and came to power the first thing I tried to do was extend a hand of peace to India,” Khan said at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in the Saudi capital, adding that the overture was later “rebuffed” by Delhi.

“Now what we are hoping is that we wait until the elections then again we will resume our peace talks with India,” the premier said, referring to upcoming elections scheduled to take place by mid-May.

Last month, New Delhi pulled the plug on a planned meeting between its foreign minister and her Pakistani counterpart set on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Khan said at the time that he is “disappointed” with the Indian government for its decision to call off a planned meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, denouncing New Delhi’s move as “arrogant and negative.”

The foreign ministry in New Delhi said its decision was to protest the killing of Indian security personnel in Indian-controlled Kashmir and a Pakistani postage stamp it said was “glorifying” an anti-India fighter who Indian forces killed in the disputed Himalayan region last year.

Islamabad immediately rejected New Delhi’s charges as excuses to enable it to avoid holding talks before national elections next year.

Tensions are high in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where the Muslim-majority population stages regular protests against the Indian rule, demanding autonomy from New Delhi or a merger with Pakistan.

New Delhi accuses Islamabad of supporting pro-independence fighters, an allegation rejected by the Pakistani government. Islamabad, in turn, is critical of India’s heavy military deployment to Kashmir, some 500,000 soldiers, and its crackdown against the disputed region’s Muslim population.

Thousands of people have been killed in the unrest in Kashmir over the past few decades.

Khan justifies presence at controversial Saudi summit

Khan is in Saudi Arabia for the summit overshadowed by the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Turkish coastal city of Istanbul that has prompted a wave of cancellations.

Islamabad continues to seek funding to plug its deteriorating finances. Khan earlier said in an interview he was concerned by Khashoggi’s death but could not skip the conference because “we’re desperate” for possible Saudi loans to shore up Pakistan’s economy.

It is Khan’s second visit to Saudi Arabia in just over a month.

Since taking power in August Khan has sought loans from countries such as China and Saudi Arabia.

The Pakistani premier has also recently said that the country might need to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address its mounting balance of payments crisis and economic woes.

Any IMF bailout would likely include conditions to curb government spending. The IMF’s demands could threaten Khan’s campaign promise to build an Islamic welfare state.

Khan has blamed the previous government for the economic situation and repeated a promise to recover billions of dollars he says former corrupt rulers have stashed abroad.

12. 

India, Japan to Sign Maritime Pact to Monitor Chinese Warships in Asia-Pacific

Sputnik News

23.10.2018

The Indian Navy had earlier said that at any given time, China has six to seven warships, including submarines, deployed in the Indian Ocean. Earlier this month, the Indian Navy reported it had spotted a Type 039A Yuan class Chinese submarine in the ocean for the first time in over a year.

Emphasizing the growing strategic stakes in the Asia-Pacific region, India, and Japan are set to sign the maritime domain awareness (MDA) agreement during their annual bilateral summit, scheduled for October 29. The agreement is aimed at facilitating the ability of the two navies to share critical information of mutual interest such as the movement of Chinese warships/submarines in the Indian Ocean. This agreement will shore-up the monitoring wherewithal of the two countries against the backdrop of the increased presence of Chinese warships in their respective waters.

“We are expecting to sign an agreement between the Indian and Japanese navies in MDA and maritime security, which will enable more cooperation in this domain,” Japan’s envoy to India Kenji Hiramatsu revealed at a briefing about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tokyo on October 28-29.

The two countries completed the legwork of the agreement during Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Japan in August this year.

The impending 13th India-Japan annual summit in Tokyo will also witness the beginning of formal negotiations as per the acquisition and cross-service agreement (ACSA) – an agreement which would allow the navies of the two countries to get access to each other’s military bases.

“We are hoping to start a formal negotiation process that will enable us to sign an Acquisition and Cross-Service Agreement (ACSA), a mutual logistics support agreement. It is natural that two countries, which have such a large number of exercises, should implement a logistics support agreement,” Hiramatsu added.

India has a similar logistics support agreement with the US, which it signed in 2016. In March this year, the Narendra Modi-led Indian government signed a similar pact with France. The Indian Navy has also been receiving logistics support at Singaporean military bases since 2015.

The Japanese envoy also revealed that that Japanese air force observers would attend the upcoming ‘Cope India’ exercise, which the US and Indian air force conduct annually. India and Japan will also hold their first-ever joint military exercise in November this year in Mizoram, in northeast India.

Japan is also initiating its first joint military technology project with India. “In the field of defense technology cooperation, we will cooperate on building unmanned vehicles and robotics,” Hiramatsu stated.

© Sputnik

13.

Λέτε να κατάλαβαν κάποια πράγματα οι Αλβανοί, της πΓΔΜ; 

Αλβανικός κίνδυνος για τη Συμφωνία των Πρεσπών;

© naftemporiki.gr Αλβανικός κίνδυνος για τη Συμφωνία των Πρεσπών;

 Σε κίνδυνο βρίσκεται η εύθραυστηπλειοψηφία των 2/3 της Βουλής της ΠΓΔΜ για τη συνταγματική αναθεώρηση, λόγω των ενστάσεων που φέρεται να διατυπώνουν τα δύο μικρά αλβανικά κόμματα -βασικοί σύμμαχοι του Ζόραν Ζάεφ στη Συμφωνία των Πρεσπών.

 Σύμφωνα με δημοσίευμα του «  BalkanInsight  », τα δύο κόμματα απειλούν με καταψήφιση στις επόμενες δύο ψηφοφορίες για την αναθεώρηση του Συντάγματος, εφόσον δεν συμπεριληφθεί η αλβανική στις επίσημες γλώσσες του γειτονικού κράτους.

 Παρά τη μέχρι στιγμής απαρέγκλιτη στήριξη στη Συμφωνία των Πρεσπών, τα δύο κόμματα -«BESA» και «Συμμαχία για τους Αλβανούς»- αφήνουν «ανοιχτό» το ενδεχόμενο καταψήφισης της συνταγματικής αναθεώρησης, αν δεν ικανοποιηθεί το αίτημα για την αλβανική γλώσσα.

 «Ήρθε η ώρα να καταστούν μέρος της δημόσιας συζήτησης ορισμένα πολιτικά ζητήματα που αφορούν τους Αλβανούς» τόνισε χαρακτηριστικά, ένας εκ των βουλευτών του BESA.

 Γνωστοποίησε δε, ότι έχει ήδη επέλθει συμφωνία με το έτερο αλβανικό κόμμα -Συμμαχία για τους Αλβανούς- για την υποβολή σχετικής τροπολογίας, η οποία θα κατατεθεί στη Βουλή έως αύριο, Παρασκευή.

 Οι δύο πολιτικοί σχηματισμοί διαθέτουν τέσσερις βουλευτές, οι οποίοι ωστόσο, διαδραματίζουν καίριο ρόλο στις πολιτικές εξελίξεις της γειτονικής χώρας, δεδομένων των εύθραυστων ισορροπιών στην ΠΓΔΜ.

Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι το μεγαλύτερο αλβανικό κόμμα -«Δημοκρατική Ένωση για την Ενσωμάτωση» (DUI)- το οποίο συγκυβερνά μάλιστα με τους Σοσιαλιστές του Ζάεφ, έσπευσε να διευκρινίσει ότι δεν προτίθεται να θέσει σε κίνδυνο τη Συμφωνία, φέρνοντας στο προσκήνιο επιπλέον απαιτήσεις.

 Υπενθυμίζεται ότι για την ολοκλήρωση της συνταγματικής αναθεώρησης απαιτούνται ακόμη δύο ψηφοφορίες -μία ενδιάμεση, η οποία προϋποθέτει τη στήριξη του ½ της Βουλής και μία τελική, η οποία όπως και η πρώτη, προϋποθέτει τη στήριξη των 2/3 της Βουλής.

 naftemporiki.gr

14. 

Israel Has Chosen Life

 

October 24, 2018

Dear Friend of Israel,

Seven years ago this week, on October 18, 2011, Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit was released after being imprisoned for five years by Hamas terrorists. As Israelis celebrated Shalit’s return, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza gathered to celebrate the return of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Shalit.

Among the men and women Palestinians celebrated that day was Ahlam Tamimi, one of the perpetrators of the 2001 Sbarro restaurant massacre in Jerusalem that killed 15 people. And Nasser Yatiya, involved in the horrendous 2002 Park Hotel bombing that killed 30. And Walid Abdel-Hadi, serving 36 life terms for his role in terrorist attacks. These terrorists with blood on their hands expressed no remorse for their actions, and in fact pledged to continue their “resistance” against Israel.

We have seen it many times before and since: celebrations in the streets of Gaza after terror attacks on Israel. Terrorist “martyrs” glorified and their relatives given stipends by the Palestinian government. Palestinian schools named in honor of terrorists. Demonstrations of hatred toward Israel and her people have, sadly, become a part of Palestinian culture.

As discouraging as this is, I recall that the Bible lays out for us a blueprint for a different way of living, a blueprint for all of us to follow: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

This is the choice Israel has made. She has created a system of government that works to secure democracy and liberty for all. She has embraced creativity and innovation. She respects the humanity of her enemies, even in times of war. Israeli society is imperfect, as all societies are. But it is built on a foundation that reflects a fundamental belief in the sanctity of life, rather than the glorification of death.

Dear friends, even as our enemies choose death, let us choose life. Let us pray for the day when the virulent anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel that is so common among Israel’s neighbors is a thing of the past. And let us continue to pray for the day when God will bless Israel, and the entire world, with His most precious gift of shalom, peace.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Founder and President

“ΑΠΙΘΑΝΟΣ“

-/-